Hunter builds

For solo questing from 10 to 60 with a pet doing most of the tanking. You send the pet in, add Auto Shot, Arcane Shot or Summon Hawk, and finish with Aimed Shot. The Marksmanship points come last and add crit and Attack Power for your own shots.

• Unleashed Fury, Ferocity and Frenzy make the pet hit harder and faster, and Unleashed Fury and Ferocity also apply to hawks.
• Focused Fire raises the damage of both you and your pet while the pet is out, which is all the time when leveling.
• Spirit Bond and Bestial Discipline cut downtime: health regen for you and the pet, more pet Focus, and part of your mana regen keeps going while casting.
• Pathfinding makes Aspect of the Cheetah faster for travel between quest hubs.
• Bestial Wrath at the bottom of the tree is a 50% pet damage cooldown for tough pulls and elites.

For raiding hunters who want to stand at range and shoot without managing a pet. You play with the pet dismissed for Lone Wolf, keep Serpent Sting up, and fit Arcane Shot, Aimed Shot, Multi-Shot and Sniper Shot between Auto Shots. Trueshot Aura also gives your group Ranged Attack Power.

• Lone Wolf raises all your damage while you have no active pet, so this build plays pet-free.
• Careful Aim turns Intellect into Attack Power, and Mortal Shots (which needs 5/5 Careful Aim) raises the crit damage bonus on ranged abilities.
• Rapid Killing and Rapid Recuperation tie mana and burst to Serpent Sting and kills, and Efficiency lowers the cost of shots and stings.
• Trueshot Aura is a group buff and opens Sniper Shot, the long-range shot at the bottom of the tree.
• Improved Tracking and Surefooted from Survival add damage against the tracked creature type and hit chance.

Whether Lone Wolf beats playing with a pet in raids was still open in beta guides; to keep a pet, drop Lone Wolf and put the point into Improved Arcane Shot or Hawk Eye.

For battlegrounds and world PvP. It keeps the pet for pressure and utility, takes the main Marksmanship damage talents, and adds Survival control and defense: Scatter Shot, Deterrence, Counterattack and trap talents. You open at range and use Scatter Shot, Wing Clip and traps to keep melee off you.

• Scatter Shot disorients a target, buying space to set a trap or reset range.
• Deterrence raises Dodge and Parry, and Counterattack (which requires it) immobilizes the attacker after a parry.
• Improved Wing Clip and Survival Tactics make Wing Clip roots and traps more reliable, and Surefooted shortens slows on you.
• Mortal Shots and Ranged Weapon Specialization carry the burst on Aimed Shot and Arcane Shot.
• Improved Tracking adds damage against the tracked type, so track Humanoids against players.